Category: wayne shorter

Here are some new DVDs you might be interested in. Some are already available and the rest will be out by the end of the month. Clicking through and buying these through Amazon.com earns the site a commission.

“If you’re playing something that’s supposed to sound like it’s supposed to be . . . and you’re perfecting this mandatory expression with mandates all around it, it’s nothing more than a statue,” says Shorter. “Like polishing a statue.”

It’s further pinpoints a similar point Wayne made earlier about jazz moving forward. The quote is from a Boston.com article about Wayne’s 75th Birthday Celebration. Also in the article: Wayne meets William Shatner (it’s Shatcember, you know)!

“There used to be a thing where people would say, “this is not jazz! Blah, blah, blah. It’s supposed to sound like this.” Whenever there’s a prescription for what something is supposed to be, to look like or sound like, then to me, that’s a statue.”

I love listening to Wayne speak. He always makes me think. This quote is from the latest issue of the Jazz Improv magazine.

I can’t do a better job of describing or promoting Wayne Shorter’s latest release, Beyond the Sound Barrier, than this new interview with the man by Bill Milkowski at at the Abstract Logix site. What more can be said of the incredible abilities of Shorter and his quartet of Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade? Pick up what is likely to win next year’s Best Contemporary Jazz Grammy (beating Metheny’s longform The Way Up) on the Verve label in stores today.